Special Coverage

Payoffs both big and small on day

ARCADIA, Calif. - It was almost impossible. It was too easy. From wagers such as the Breeders' Cup pick six and future wager, to head-to-head wagering that requires nothing more than one horse finishing ahead of another, Breeders' Cup 2003 offered something for everyone.

Horseplayers poured $4,489,454 into the Breeders' Cup pick six pool, and a series of upsets sliced things down to just one winning ticket. It returned $2,687,611.60. Five winners paid $18,663.80.

Horseplayers who invested in the three BC future pools had a tough go: four of the eight winners were not listed individually, including Distaff winner Adoration. Distaff future wagering was offered on Rounds 1 and 2, in which Adoration was included in the all-others field that was 9-1 and 18-1, respectively.

Halfbridled closed at 2.40-1 in the Juvenile Fillies future pool. She started only slightly lower on race day at 2.30-1. Mile winner Six Perfections offered value. She closed at 20-1 in future wagering and 5.30-1 on race day. Sprint winner Cajun Beat was one of six Sprint starters who were lumped into the future-pool field, which closed at 5-1.

In the Filly-Mare Turf, Islington closed at 5.50-1 in the future wager; she was 2.90-1 on race day. Juvenile winner Action This Day was one of six in the future-pool field, which closed at 7.70-1. The dead heat in the Turf will cut in half the future payoffs of High Chaparral and Johar. High Chaparral's future wager payoffs will be 5-1 and 3-1 in the two pools; Johar will be 10-1 in both pools. In the Classic, Pleasantly Perfect was not listed individually in the first future pool; the field closed at 9-1. In the second Classic pool, he closed at more than 50-1.

Stellar takes Very Subtle

After facing some of the best females in New York during the summer, Stellar ($20) scored her first stakes win against an easier field in Saturday's $107,200 Very Subtle Handicap at Santa Anita, the first race on Breeders' Cup Day.

Rallying from fifth, Stellar closed three lengths in the final furlong to beat Lacie Girl by a nose, finishing six furlongs in 1:09.63. Cee's Valley Girl finished a neck behind Lacie Girl, and was followed by Spring Meadow, Mooji Moo, and Nasty Storm, the 2-1 favorite.

Stellar raced close to the front in New York, but trainer Patrick Biancone was not surprised to see her come from the back.

"The fields were easier than her last two starts," Biancone said. "Normally, she is keen on the East Coast, but they go faster here."

Mooji Moo and Spring Meadow fought through fractions of 21.70 and 44.40 seconds, but were challenged in early stretch by Cee's Valley Girl. Lacie Girl made first run on that trio in midstretch but could not hold off Stellar.

Owned by Edward Evans and Michael Tabor, Stellar has won 3 of 8 starts and $164,820. She was second in the Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga in 2002, but was sidelined by a hairline fracture in a shoulder that summer.

Biancone said the La Canada Series for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita is a long-term goal for Stellar.

Trainer Dan Hendricks said the 4-year-old Runaway Dancer will be pointed for the turf distance stakes of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

"He's about halfway to his potential," Hendricks said. "Our big question is how far will he go. We'll have him for next winter."

In the Carleton Burke, Runaway Dancer ($78.20) rallied from last in a field of nine to win by a neck over Labirinto, a stakes winner in Sweden. Senor Swinger, the 3-1 favorite, was prominent in mid-stretch, but missed by a half-length.

Runaway Dancer races for Pat Dudley of San Francisco. A gelding, Runaway Dancer won two optional claimers at Del Mar over 1 3/8 miles on turf. He was sixth on Sept. 27 in the Grade 3 Bay Meadows Breeders' Cup Handicap over 1 1/8 miles on turf at Bay Meadows. Hendricks insists the distance of that race was too short for Runaway Dancer.

"I don't think you'll see him run less than a mile and a quarter," Hendricks said.